REIGNING Most Valuable Player (MVP) Shineah Goody was simply incredible in her return to the tri-colours on Sunday’s AFL Women’s Under 18 Championships opener against Western Australia. The South Australian was deemed the best player at last year’s national carnival and based off her start is on track for consecutive MVPs.

Goody racked up 10 more disposals than anyone else on the ground, while running at a remarkable 83 per cent disposal efficiency. In an undisputed best on ground performance, Goody put on a clinic and showed why she is one of the best young talents in the country and a class above her peers with her clean hands and ball use.

South Australia Girls, Eagles Women'sMidfielder

Shineah Goody

Height: 162cm

Weight: -

DOB: 08-11-2005

2023 AFLW Under 18 Championships
South Australia 8.12 (60) defeated Western Australia 4.1 (25)

STATS: 30 disposals (16 kicks, 14 handballs), 7 marks, 4 tackles, 6 clearances, 4 inside 50s, 3 rebound 50s

FIRST QUARTER

Shineah Goody won her first touch at half-back in the third minute of the match, fending off opponent Ella Slocombe and producing a lovely kick under pressure to the wing. It would spark a number of pinpoint passes to her midfield teammates, as well as a couple of clearances in the opening 10 minutes. Piper Window and Jasmine Evans were both beneficiaries of Goody’s magic and were able to set up scoring opportunities inside 50s themselves.

As Lauren Young took the headlines for the first term with 2.2 to her name, Goody went about her business unassumingly, able to handball clear on the wing to Elaine Grigg despite the Eagles talent being run down in a tackle. With three minutes remaining in the quarter, Goody was awarded a free kick for having her arms chopped in a defensive marking contest, and produced another outstanding kick to Jemma Charity, bringing up her sixth touch of the opening term.

SECOND QUARTER

Goody did not wait long to make her mark on the second term with the first clearance out of the middle, bursting away and then handballing to Window at centre half-forward, though Window was tackled, Goody arrived on the scene for backup. Two minutes in, Goody won a free kick for in the back on the wing and just delivered a lovely right foot kick to the leading Young.

In the sixth minute of the term, Goody burst out of the back of the stoppage, fended off Madison Dodd, drew an opponent and handballed to a teammate. Then went the ball hit the deck, she soccered it away, but was unfortunately pinged under the last touch rule out of bounds. To finish off the term, Goody took another great mark at half-back and kicked well down the ground, then won two more handballs running hard inside 50 in the dying stages.

THIRD QUARTER

By the premiership quarter, Goody was pulling out all the tricks in the kit bag, and producing a marvellous array of skills that few others could produce. Her first kick was a long kick inside 50 in the opening few seconds, then went on a bursting run to hit up the one-on-one contest between Young and Mackenzie Webb inside 50. She mopped up the ball at ground level in the middle not long after with a clean handball, then had a neat kick towards Window going forward at the five-minute mark.

Despite standing at 162cm, Goody has incredible core strength and an underrated vertical leap, and that showed with a huge – but fair – bump on the talented Zippy Fish – whose skillset lends itself to being the Goody of next year’s draft crop. She went on to mark at centre half-forward and deliver to Melissa Anderson in space inside 50, then in defence took a ridiculous high-flying grab, and by three quarter time had brought her disposal tally up to 22.

FOURTH QUARTER

While many other players might be tiring from the intensity of the contest, Goody just looked like she could keep going indefinitely. She had a lovely clearance running out of the middle in the second minute of the contest to hit up Window leading out, then gave off to her state captain again after having to quickly handball under pressure. She would continue to accumulate the ball with a nice one-two at half-forward just working harder than anyone else on the transition play.

Goody was penalised for a dangerous tackle at the seven-minute mark in what was unlucky for the talented top-ager. She finished off her incredible day out with another couple of kicks, though had a rare turnover in the final few minutes after a goal-saving mark on the goal line. With another eight disposals in the final term, it meant Goody had tallies of six, eight, eight and eight across the respective four quarters in a remarkable show of consistency.

CLOSING THOUGHTS ….

Shineah Goody cemented her place as the only major contender to the top pick spot alongside friend Lauren Young. The pair are both incredible players and so very different, and it is anticipated Port Adelaide will make sure it has more than enough picks ahead of Adelaide to scoop up the best South Australian talent this year. Goody was simply sublime for the Croweaters, and showed her ability to go to another level, even against the best from across the country.